package com.jsftoolkit.gen.info;

/**
 * Interface for classes that provide information about a component.
 * 
 * @author noah
 * 
 */
public interface ComponentInfoProvider {
	/**
	 * Attempts to populate one or more properties of info. info may already
	 * have properties that have been filled in. It is the responsibility of the
	 * implementation to determine (and document!) when to overwrite existing
	 * information. Implementations should attempt to add as much specific
	 * information as possible.
	 * <p>
	 * It is also possible that the info instance is completely blank.
	 * <p>
	 * Implementations are encouraged to throw and
	 * {@link IllegalArgumentException} or {@link IllegalStateException} if due
	 * to a problem with the existing data or if the implementation is unable to
	 * process due to lack of information, etc. The exception message should be
	 * very explicit as to which property(ies) are invalid.
	 * 
	 * @param info
	 *            a possibly already (paritialy) populated {@link ComponentInfo}
	 *            instance.
	 */
	void fillIn(ComponentInfo info);
}
